President Donald Trump has a simple message on artificial intelligence and China: winning matters more than sharing. Speaking Tuesday after meeting technology executives in Washington, Trump said the United States should not deepen AI cooperation with China if it risks eroding America's technological edge.
"We're leading by a lot. President Xi knows that. We're leading by a lot, and we don't want to mix it up too much either," Trump said. He rejected the idea of a U.S.-China AI "joint venture," warning it could mean "giving a lot of secrets" to Beijing.
Then came the line that sums up his whole worldview on the technology: "Whoever wins super intelligence wins." He added, "You're gonna have a winner and a loser, and you're probably not gonna have a second place."
Trump has consistently argued the U.S. should avoid rules that could slow AI development, and he recently said the Justice Department could police serious abuses without "stifling growth."
Washington and Beijing Keep Talking, Just Carefully
None of this ends the existing bilateral risk-management efforts. During Xi Jinping's state visit last week, the White House said the two governments created a U.S.-China Super Intelligence Dialogue and agreed on a bilateral communication channel for serious incidents. The next exchange is due by November.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had earlier said the talks would cover risks including uncontrollable agents, non-state actors and cyber threats.
A Voluntary Handshake on Safety
Trump paired his China comments with a voluntary safety accord signed by executives from Alphabet Inc.'s Google (GOOG), Anthropic, Meta Platforms Inc. (META), OpenAI, xAI and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA). The one-page document calls for four layers of controls, including internal monitoring, outside audits and board-level oversight. Trump called the agreement "morally binding."
The accord asks companies to monitor frontier models for risks including cybersecurity, biosecurity and unintended access to technical systems, while participating firms agreed to meet regularly on safety standards. It also says the measures could eventually be codified into law.
Trump has framed that industry-led approach as compatible with preserving U.S. leadership. Xi, by contrast, said during last week's White House visit that AI development should remain "under human control."
